We had a similar incident while I was growing up, but it didn't turn out nearly so well. (This young man is more charming and well-behaved than any of us, apparently.)

One of my older brothers boxed his present to my youngest brother (probably 5 or so at the time, I think?) in a popcorn box. My YB was FURIOUS. "You got me POPCORN?!?" he shouted, and dashed out of the room in tears.

When we cajoled him to come back and open the popcorn box, he discovered that inside, my OB (who was fond of playing practical jokes) had thoughtfully boxed up several lumps of charcoal for him.

More tears. We had to go comfort him and haul him back a second time to receive the real present.

Whatever the real present was, it was way less memorable than coal in a popcorn box.

The Blonde always gets me Tastykakes at Christmas (I grew up just outside Philadelphia and they're a taste of home) and wraps them (I know...), so my first thought was he likes Club Crackers, but he looks old enough to be able to take a joke and saw it coming.

My mother -- in gifts to her grandchildren -- used to add a package of Tic Tacs to the box before she wrapped it, to confuse the kids who liked to shake packages and guess what's inside. After the first year, they knew it was Tic Tacs, but she did it anyway, because they thought it was funny.

I got cheez-its from two different people this Christmas...they know me well.

Growing up in my mom's health-crazy house, for our birthdays and Christmas, we would often get little treats of junk food we otherwise never saw. My husband thinks it's a weird tradition, but it's hard to kick the habit.

This is just like that video of the little boy telling Bachmann that his mom was a lesbian and didn't need to be fixed. Messages that might be powerful and even touching if it weren't for the painfully obvious coaching by the parents. Instead, it's just sad.

One of the biggest joys of parenting is watching your children grow their own hearts and minds. I really can't understand the desire to indoctrinate them instead.

The family in the other video is charming indeed. It reminds me of a Christmas long ago when my brother asked for a skateboard. My stepdad and my mom got a two-by-four and screwed skate trucks and wheels into it. And when he opened it, they told him that it was going to be so fun working on it and shaping it in to a skateboard together. My poor brother was trying so hard to act as though that sounded like a wonderful idea, powering through the crushing disappointment. And I was trying so hard not to giggle, knowing that they had, of course, actually gotten him a real skateboard. That's a fun memory.

What a cute kid! My mom actually did that to me this year. She used the box from those glass watering globes to put something much better in. I unwrapped it and said, "Thanks." It wasn't until about three hours later she realized I hadn't opened the box!

It used to be that my grandmother's dear friend, whom we called "Aunt Sue," would put about a zillion sticks of gum (juicy fruit, doublemint) in a box and wrap it up. All of us cousins loved that gift, just a big box of gum, and not even bubblegum. I miss that gift.

how can anyone "hate" club crackers. They're a pretty neutral flavor. i can see preferring other crackers or not liking club crackers, but "hating" them seems like there are some other issues involved.

It's not hard. Just hate them. Just give your hate a chance. Club crackers are a little buttery and greasy. Saltines are infinitely better. That box contains more club crackers than I've eaten in my entire life. Yuk!!

it seems to me drawing a line in the sand on the topic of crackers means one of two things. either a youthful trauma involving crackers or someone who draws many lines in the sand over inane subjects. don't you think dadvocate????

there' a few extra question marks. they seem very important to you, like crackers.

there you go dadvocate. i just think we need to keep "hate" for substantive issues, like sports teams, politicians, child molestors, etc. maybe I could abide "hate" in reference to gluten free crackers. Have you tried those mofo's? they would have to get better to be bad.